Television host Larry King makes a speech at the Seoul Digital Forum 2011 in Seoul, South Korea, on May 25, 2011. (Xinhua/Park Jin Hee)

King is best known for the nightly interview TV program "Larry King Live," which aired on CNN from 1985 to 2010.

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 23 -- Larry King, a veteran U.S. talk show host and former CNN interviewer, died on Saturday at the age of 87 after media reported earlier this month that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19.

"With profound sadness, Ora Media announces the death of our co-founder, host, and friend Larry King, who passed away this morning at age 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles," said a statement posted on King's social media account.

King hosted CNN's "Larry King Live" for over two and a half decades and retired in 2010 after clocking in at more than 6,000 episodes.

"For 63 years and across the platforms of radio, television and digital media, Larry's many thousands of interviews, awards and global acclaim stand as a testament to his unique and lasting talent as a broadcaster," said Ora Media, a television production company co-founded by King, in the statement.

"Whether he was interviewing a U.S. president, foreign leader, celebrity, scandal-ridden personage, or an everyman, Larry liked to ask short, direct, and uncomplicated questions," noted the statement.